Petrucco, Lou, Dr. – Grosse Ile, Michigan

Lou Petrucco M.D. lives in Grosse lle, Michigan, an island, where the Detroit River enters the western basin of Lake Erie. While the practice of medicine occupied the majority of his time, the hunting and fishing life style has always been his passion. The downriver area of Michigan has a very rich history of men who engaged in hunting ,fishing and carving decoys. Under the influence of this environment, Lou Petrucco indulged his love of art and the outdoors. Collecting and studying the works of the old-timers and creating one’s own works of art is where the greatest satisfaction could be had. For many years, taxidermy was the method of preserving the beauty of nature’s bounty. This was replaced by wood carving and flat painting with oil and acrylic paints.
A statement from Lou Petrucco:

“I am now able to devote myself to being an artist. I specialize in painting the outdoor activities that I observe in the woods and waters of Michigan and Florida. I paint primarily with acrylic paint on wooden board. I also carve in wood, making duck decoys for my hunting rig and fish decoys for ice fishing. I generally walk to my hunting and fishing grounds. I have displayed my paintings for sale in a number of Art galleries in the Downriver area. I am self taught. I fill my days with painting and that restores me . I feel especially privileged to have one of my art works displayed in some ones home.”

His still life painting of ice fish decoys is amazing and a wonderful item of Decoy interest.

Above is a still life painting of a group of Michigan perch, ice spearing fish decoys. You will recognize perch fish by Issac Goulette, George Aho, Paw Paw Co., Johnny Johnson, Floyd Red Bruce, Oscar Peterson, Pecor Fox, Jerry Adams and a 7 tine Kellogg spear. The painting is acrylic on board, 19″ x 23″ in size. It was made by Lou Petrucco in 2002 and place in a frame made of wood decorated with birch bark, red twig and stream stones also done by the artist. The outer dimensions are 24″ x 28″.